Fred Eckhardt Oral History Interview

Fred Eckhardt was a prominent beer writer and critic whose work includes seminal brewing texts like A Treatise on Lager Beer and The Essentials of Beer Style. In this interview, he describes the events of his early life, recounting his time spent in a children’s home in Washington and his years as a U.S. Marine. Upon moving to Portland, Eckhardt became deeply involved with the burgeoning homebrewing and craft brewing movements—environments which he describes in depth in this interview. Eckhardt also offers information about early Pacific Northwest breweries like Olympia, Red Hook, Widmer Brothers, and McMenamins. This interview was conducted by Tiah Edmunson-Morton, Tim Hills, and John Foyston on July 23, 2014 in Portland, Oregon.